One more erosion

[Margaret Tarbet <tarbet@swaa.com>]

One more step toward a police state (see
http://www.cnn.com/US/9902/09/AM-VoluntaryConfessions.ap/
for more):

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- A federal appeals court has ruled that
despite the Supreme Court's landmark 1966 Miranda decision,
prosecutors can use a confession from a suspect who opens his mouth
before he has been read his rights. 

In a 2-1 ruling Monday, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals said a 1968 federal law on voluntary confessions
takes precedence over the Miranda ruling in federal cases.